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Spaceships and Classification
Almost every race in the Known Universe builds their own spaceships for commercial, military and leisure use. While it would seem that the majority of ships in the universe are warships, this would be a misconception that is built on wrongful portrayal in the media. Ships come in almost all shapes and sizes, based on necessity, military doctrine or aesthetic values of their creators. Commercial vessels Commercial vessels are the bread and butter of most shipyards and the most common type of ships in existence. Their task is simple: to carry goods and people in the stars from people selling to people buying. They are not overly complex, generally not very well armed and equipped but they can carry immense amounts of cargo. Space Trains Space Trains are the simplest of all types of commercial ships. Basically, it is composed of a single warp-capable "locomotive" along with multiple flatbeds on which cargo containers of all kind can be loaded. The locomotive itself is a very simple ship and the flatbeds have only minimal functions associated with them, but depending on the power of the driver vessel, large quantities of cargo can be moved. Aligning for a warp-jump is long and tedious, the ship itself is very slow (and even slower if it is overcharged with cargo) but the necessary operational costs of a space train are minimal, which leads many independent contractors to use them. A space train is generally unarmed and its lack of jump capable engines limits it to travel between Jump Gates, which is good for transport within a safe area of space, far from the front lines. While the containers can be pressurised and even have life-support, it is rare that live cargo is brought this way, with cryofreezing of goods for travel being seen as a cheap alternative. Freighter and Super Freighter Freighters and Super Freighters make up the bulk of the commercial fleets of the Known Universe, with the large quantity of Hu Syndicates ship being of this category. Freighters are very large ships, capable of both warp and buoy jumping, with all of its cargo compartment being internal, unlike a space train which has external cargo pods attached to flatbeds. Even the smallest freighter can be of a size comparable to a large military vessel, and is capable of transporting any forms of goods, live or dry, to any linked location in the Known Universe. Freighters are heavily shielded and armoured and are still relatively mobile due to powerful engines, all to prevent attacks by pirates and other raiders. Most freighters feature a small selection of weapons to fight off attackers as well. Most ships also pay for mercenary protection against boarding parties. Super Freighter are quite rarer, and the name is somewhat of a misnomer. Most would assume that a Super Freighter would be an even larger ship, but Super Freighters are actually generally of roughly the same size as normal freighters. The largest difference lies in the ship ability to perform Jumps on its own and the fact Super Freighters generally also feature internal factories for production or transformation of goods. Super Freighters are almost completely self-sufficient and quite a few are used by smugglers to transport illegal goods from one region to another. Hydrogen Tanker Hydrogen tankers are some of the largest ships in space. Roughly the same as freighters, hydrogen tankers are both warp-capable and buoy jump capable, but rather than having internal storage, they have immense tanks filled with liquefied gas that can be mounted on and off them. Most of them also feature refuelling equipment for immediate use on military vessels. Military vessels Military vessels make up the bulk of the fleets owned by the various nations of the Known Universe, even though some ships have been known to fall into the hands of private individuals, including privateers. Military vessels are classified in various classes, which go by increasing tonnage and fighting capabilities. Patrol Boats Patrol Boats, or PT boats or gunships, are the smallest ships in production by any nation. They are not meant for front line combat, but rather for simple intra-system patrol and reconnaissance. Too small to even be able to buoy jumps, they can only travel from one system to another by Jump Gates, but once in system, they are so small and agile that they can reach almost any location in a system in a matter of minutes. Most PT boats are equipped with powerful sensors and with a powerful, industrial grade tractor beam, which they use as tugs to move freighters and other ships when necessary. This has led the PT boats to be crewed by "coast guards" amongst the Terran Confederation, which act as a first line of defence against illegal immigration and the like. Corvettes The smallest of the combat ships in production, corvettes are also the smallest ships able to perform buoy jumps and are incredibly agile, making them great for reconnaissance and combat exploration. Corvettes have very limited crew and weapon systems which makes them quite fragile and useless when attacking larger ships unless they swarm them like insects, a strategy which is sometimes employed by the Baal'Ken horde. Corvettes generally carry a few torpedoes for high impact damage and significant anti-pod weaponry, as they often act as picket ships in larger engagements. Destroyers / Frigates Both these ship classes fall in more or less the same category, as escort ships for larger vessels. Capable of buoy jumps and still rather agile, Frigates are the most common ships in engagement between member-states and client-states or minor conflicts between the major powers. Destroyers are generally seen as the smallest of the two types, carrying light weapons and torpedoes, while Frigates have at least one or two larger weapons and a larger number of smaller guns. Light Cruiser / Heavy Cruisers Light Cruisers are officially the largest ships that most client-states are able to build, while heavy cruisers can be purchased from their ruling bodies under strict rules by the Treaty of Centauri. Light cruisers are not capable of independent jumps while heavy cruisers are, which makes up the biggest difference between the two classes. Both feature a wide array of weapons, ranging from medium guns to lighter secondary guns to torpedoes and missile tube, with heavy cruisers sometimes even being able to accommodate heavy guns. Cruisers are a good intermediate class of ship which serve as the centre of many formations or as mobile flankers for larger battleships, using their increased mobility to their advantage. Light Cruisers are powerful enough to serve as multi-system patrol ship and can often hold their own long enough for reinforcement to arrive if necessary in the case of a pirate raid or unexpected contact with an hostile force. Battlecruiser A very recent addition to the ship classes lineup, the Terrans produced the CWS Halifax in secret as they were denied the permission to build both heavy cruisers and battleships by a resolution of the Tripartite Council, driven mainly by the Hu Syndicates and Protectorate Association. At the ship launch, it was revealed to be a ship significantly larger than a heavy cruiser, yet smaller than a battleship, featuring a set of heavy guns but no secondary guns. While protests from the Protectorate mounted, the design was ordered for production by the Star Empire and the Union, which put their veto on any sanctions against the Confederation. Battlecruisers are heavily armed for their size, yet lack the defensive capabilities and secondary weapons generally seen on larger battleships. Unable to challenge a battleship head-on, it can easily outmanoeuvre them and can be used as a command ship for smaller vessels or as a battering ram against the center of a cruiser-heavy formation, like what the Confederation generally encounters on the Protectorate border. The Star Empire has been seen using their new battlecruisers as flanker vessels in a hammer and anvil formation with their main battleships. Battleship Currently the largest combat vessels in production, battleships feature heavy weapons, large bays filled with either battlepods or Knight-class Combat Frames, a set of secondary weapons (which can include torpedoes), immense armour and shields and powerful ICE capable of moving fleets over short distances. Battleships make up the centre of any Imperial, Royal or Protectorate combat formations, their heavy guns capable of eliminating smaller ships in a matter of a few volleys. Other than other battleships, nothing can really challenge one in one on one combat, but they become increasingly vulnerable when multiple small ships begin swarming them. Named Spaceships * CWS Halifax *CES Cabot *CWS Illinois *CWS Orion *HMS StarVandel *HMS Heart of Dawn Ship classes * "Wombat-class" Hurricane-class Destroyer * Toledo-class Light Cruisers * Kuln-class Light Cruiser * VolZen-class Artillery Cruiser * RigTa-class Raider Frigate * VlagZu-class Raider Destroyer * Vanadius-class (Terran confederation custom) Corvette / Blockade Runner